Playhouse goes off without a hitch

Just under 1,000 people attended the April 20 all night Playhouse Party and organizers and officials are happy to report the event went off without a single incident.

Playhouse organizers were required to foot the bill for four extra RCMP officers to patrol the area between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. but police were hardly kept busy, with just a minor skirmish when two intoxicated males tried to gain entry to the AlpenRock without tickets. Just over 100 tablets of ecstasy and small amounts of cocaine and marijuana were seized at the door by Playhouse security, but no arrests were made.

Organizer Ace MacKay Smith says inside the AlpenRock party goers were amazed at the multitude of activities to keep them busy all night and into the morning: bowling, dancing, painting and story-telling, just to name a few.

"I was really happy to walk around and overhear people saying 'Wow! We should try to do something like this for my next birthday' and stuff like that," says MacKay Smith. "It was really gratifying to hear people appreciate all the hard work and maybe inspire them to do something new too."

MacKay Smith had expected to sit down with the municipality and RCMP this week to discuss any concerns about the nights events. However, she says police havent returned her phone calls and the municipality hasnt tried to contact her at all.

"I guess thats because everything went so well. We just have nothing to talk about," she smiles.

"My only complaint would be the expense of having four RCMP there for the full eight hours. It was a lot of extra money, so maybe we could have them on duty just during the peak times." She adds the RCMP did a great job with their presence at the entrance and were very unobtrusive during a few routine checks inside.

"In fact, I never even saw them inside. Maybe they didn't come in," she laughs.

MacKay Smith says they'll soon be discussing financing possibilities for next year's party. Although she and partner Michael Ziff didn't lose any money this year, they didn't make any either. Considering the extensive amount of time needed to co-ordinate the event, MacKay Smith says they may consider sponsors in the future to make it worth their while.

"I would hate to see it not happen again next year. I think we've proven this type of event is needed in Whistler and is a positive thing for the community."